SPIKE Essential announced
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has just announced a new version of the SPIKE educational robotics platform.
The main point of interest from an AFOL point of view is that it introduces several new electronic components including a smaller 2-port hub, a 3x3x5 motor and an external 3x3 LED matrix.
45345 SPIKE Essential Set contains a small hub, two small motors, a light sensor and an LED matrix. In the UK it can be ordered from Raising Robots where it is priced at £277 including VAT. The individual parts have been listed at LEGO Customer Services so will presumably be available to buy separately in due course.
You can view pictures of the new elements and read the press release after the break.
BILLUND, Denmark–(August 17, 2021) – Today, LEGO Education announced LEGO Education SPIKE Essential for primary school students (Grades 1-5) to ignite enthusiasm for STEAM learning through playful problem-solving and storytelling. Part of the LEGO Learning System, SPIKE Essential engages students in hands-on investigation of STEAM concepts while supporting literacy, math and social-emotional development.
SPIKE Essential joins LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, LEGO Education BricQ Motion Essential and LEGO Education BricQ Motion Prime in the suite of solutions offered as part of the LEGO Learning System to deliver STEAM knowledge, academic practices and 21st century skills through a progression of playful experiences from primary to secondary school. Year-over-year students build increasing sophistication, independence and fluency in approaching problems hands-on, and cultivate essential skills like creativity, critical-thinking, collaboration and communication.
The LEGO Learning System meets every student where they are on their learning journey and delivers learning outcomes that future-proof their skills. Its scalable design, along with personalised professional development resources, makes it easy to implement at the classroom, school or district level – all at once or by introducing individual solutions over time. Combining the technology-enhanced LEGO Education SPIKE Portfolio and non-tech LEGO Education BricQ Motion solutions, the Learning System makes abstract concepts more tangible as students move from simple explorations to tackling increasingly complex real-world challenges. With unlimited possibilities for playful hands-on STEAM learning, students become life-long confident learners.
Esben Stærk, president of LEGO Education, said: “With the launch of SPIKE Essential we are delighted to introduce a complete learning system that enriches the teaching and learning experience. At a time when everyone is rethinking learning, we believe the LEGO Learning System will spark joy and a love of learning in students that never stops.”
SPIKE Essential offers playful learning experiences in which students solve problems through storytelling. The cross-curricular STEAM solution includes familiar LEGO building elements, four new Minifigures with different characteristics and personalities that are relatable to students, and standards-aligned learning units using everyday themes. The characters and stories not only engage students in STEAM learning, but also foster social-emotional skills. With 50 combined hours of educational content, SPIKE Essential combines age-appropriate icon- and word-based block coding with simple hardware — including an intelligent Hub, motors, a Light Matrix, and a Color Sensor — to bring STEAM concepts to life with the LEGO Education SPIKE App.
Each learning unit includes:
- A unit-wide theme: Great Adventures, Amazing Amusement Park, Happy Traveler, Crazy Carnival Games and Quirky Creations
- A learning sequence with one introductory lesson, several guided practice lessons and one open-ended project
- 7-8 lessons
- Additional 30+ minute language arts and math extensions for each lesson
- 6-10 hours of content
“When students can progress step-by-step, it builds a strong foundation and knowledge base that can be expanded and deepened year after year. LEGO Education developed the LEGO Learning System to do exactly that and so much more. It is truly exciting to see a systematic approach to STEAM learning that is playful, scalable and engaging. Any teacher and student can benefit from the wide variety of solutions – from kindergarten to graduation,” said Natalie Frady, Computer Science Teacher, Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia.
SPIKE Essential will be available for purchase in all markets starting this fall and is available today for pre-order in the U.S. at LEGOeducation.com/MeetSPIKEessential.
45345 SPIKE Essential Set
- Designed for ages 6+
- Costs $274.95 per set, which can be shared by up to two students at a time
- Includes 449 LEGO bricks (including replacement elements)
- Sturdy storage box with color-coded sorting trays
- 5 hardware components
- 5 curriculum units with 7-8 lessons of 45 minutes each
- Each unit contains 6-10 hours of educational content and 30+ minutes of language arts and math extensions for each lesson
Find out more at the LEGO Education website.
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32 comments on this article
Note, when they say a 16x16 baseplate they actually mean a normal 16x16 plate.
The Bridge Pin looks like a very helpful piece for my MOCs.
This is cool, but I’m wondering if we can get a castle line soon.
Oh god, they're calling dark pink "medium pink" and magenta "dark pink"
But seriously what a cool-looking kit, with lots of nice colors and parts.
Very interested in the "bridge pin". It looks like a pin with an anti-stud on it?
The 'bridge pin' was first seen in the new VW camper. It is indeed an anti-stud at the end.
Oh, this is very interesting! That 3x3 color LED matrix in particular seems like it could be really intriguing since the lack of large "borders" (like the larger hub has) means you could potentially chain multiples of it together to create a large, pixelated light-up sign!
You had me at "small motor"
Preorder @ LEGO Education US for $275
As someone who has been "planning" to get into Mindstorms pretty much ever since NXT launched, I think it's time I finally did with these. I think we may finally have a true micromotor successor as well, without some of the problems I hear it has.
That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these...
Nice, long bright green technic beams!
This is very awesome! Also very overpriced, though...
@WOLKsite said:
"That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these..."
Unless I am missing something they are the standard LEGO colour names, the same that we use here.
@Huw said:
" @WOLKsite said:
"That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these..."
Unless I am missing something they are the standard LEGO colour names, the same that we use here."
Very few of the names there are the ones LEGO uses. Many of them are even the BrickLink ones. As I said earlier, BrickLink magenta is called dark pink for some reason. (I was being facetious about that though.)
@LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Huw said:
" @WOLKsite said:
"That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these..."
Peeron has a colour chart showing BrickLink colour names vs LEGO’s ones. Don’t know if it’s up to date. http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors
Unless I am missing something they are the standard LEGO colour names, the same that we use here."
Very few of the names there are the ones LEGO uses. Many of them are even the BrickLink ones. As I said earlier, BrickLink magenta is called dark pink for some reason. (I was being facetious about that though.)"
Peeron has a colour chart with BrickLink’s and LEGO’s names. Don’t know if it’s up to date. http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors
Yay, I really disliked the massive new Mindstorms hub and the fact that it was used as a face even more. This small one seems to do the exact same things, as do the new motors. I’d like to get some of those to add smart lighting or movement to some of my displays, possibly even controlled with vocal recognition if that’s included in the hub or one of the sensors.
The smaller hub and motors will make integrating more easier. Given the cost and the size of the tub you would hope for a decent inventory, but seem to be too many miscellaneous frogs, crabs, flowers, hair pieces etc., rather than lots of beams, plates and connectors hence the 6+ rating. So the other 'Spike' set still looks more useful for older 10+ kids and adults.
@Huw said:
" @WOLKsite said:
"That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these..."
Unless I am missing something they are the standard LEGO colour names, the same that we use here."
Don't look like current standard colour names to me:
Dark Grey, Brown, Green, Light Orange, Grey
are all used in that parts list!
This set looks so cute with all of the smaller parts. It's like a Chibi Spike Prime. :P
I think there's a mistake. It's a 2 port hub and not a 4 port hub according to LEGO Education:
https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-technic-small-hub/45609
^ You are right, and that limits its usefulness considerably...
Some nice new elements. I guess/hope they'll do a "Mindstorm Essential" too.
@Huw said:
"^ You are right, and that limits its usefulness considerably..."
For sure. Definitely not a device for regular consumers.
Looking at LEGO Education's range of products, it seems that WeDo 2.0 (which also only had two ports) is being retired, so Spike Essential seems to be its equivalent replacement, although it's more expensive.
@Huw said:
" @WOLKsite said:
"That sheet with the parts is curious with its alternate color names. i wonder if there have been more of these..."
Unless I am missing something they are the standard LEGO colour names, the same that we use here."
They're not, though? Some overlap with Bricklink but not all. To not list all, here are some notable ones:
The list // Previously known name // Bricklink
Light Orange // Flame Yellowish Orange // Light Orange
Lime Green // Bright Yellowish Green // Lime
Dark Purple // Medium Lilac // Dark Purple
Dark Pink // Bright Reddish Violet // Magenta
Medium Pink // Bright Purple // Dark Pink
Grey // Medium Stone Grey // Light Bluish Gray
Silver // Silver Metallic // Flat Silver
Transparent Pink // Transparent Medium Reddish Violet // Trans-Dark Pink
Although it is worth noting the designers usually use the IDs formally, rather than names, afaik.
@Zander said:
[[ @LegoSonicBoy said:
[[ @Huw said:
[[ @WOLKsite said:
Peeron has a colour chart with BrickLink’s and LEGO’s names. Don’t know if it’s up to date. http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors
]]
So does Brickowl and Basebrick, which are still active and kept up to date.]]]]
@Zander said:
Peeron has a colour chart with BrickLink’s and LEGO’s names. Don’t know if it’s up to date. http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors
]]
Peeron is about a decade out of date. My list, however, is only a few days out of date :) http://www.ryanhowerter.net/colors
As for the color names... it wouldn't be the first time that Lego has used simplified (and somehow more confusing) names when communicating colors to the public:
https://news.lugnet.com/lego/?n=2605
Ryan
That 'car' in the three pic looks like a cross between the Flintstone's car and Willy Wonka's Wonkamobile (the original one anyway). Also: aren't those 'Technic's bricks...I know, I know: Tow-May-Tow/Tow-Mat-Tow...
A little over my price-range (for what it is), I imagine TLG give discounts to school districts and like...but, some of those elements look good if basic (esp. the minifig parts...)
The LED matrix looks like a very useful thing for classroom purposes
@brick_r said:
"That 'car' in the three pic looks like a cross between the Flintstone's car and Willy Wonka's Wonkamobile (the original one anyway). Also: aren't those 'Technic's bricks...I know, I know: Tow-May-Tow/Tow-Mat-Tow...
A little over my price-range (for what it is), I imagine TLG give discounts to school districts and like...but, some of those elements look good if basic (esp. the minifig parts...)"
Discounts! Don't think so- I can imagine my colleague's reaction if I spent 1/5 of the school's whole D&T budget for 400 kids on one Lego set... This is strictly for keen fundraisers and private schools.
The ONLY time I ever saw a LEGO Education in a classroom was the Education edition of Mindstorms NXT in a college engineering class, and I think the instructor had purchased it out of his own pocket.
We had LEGO at the small Christian school I attended, but it was the owner/principal of the school I attended's daughter's from the early '80s.
I like the little motor and the LED matrix, hope to see them in black/grey rear versions soon. But seriously: the motor should have been 3x3x3 studs sans rotating disk. It seems they are 35$/€ each. A bit steep, would have preferred a price similar to the color sensor (25$/€)
The HUB is totally weird. It seems it has 2 ports only. If you know you can get Technic Hubs for 25 bucks on Bricklink, with 4 ports, it is probably incredibly overpriced.
If if has 3 AAA batteries and stays under 50 bucks, I might consider it. I know the voltage is 6-9V, but there's buck converters for that. Oh wait, the train hub is almost that and programmable!
But overall I don't like the way LEGO pushes Spike as being the EV3 successor. I prefer the styling of the 51515 set, which is also way more bang for the buck than Spike. The 51515 styling is acceptable in age 16-22 where I think LEGO really can add something to education, either for STEAM in the higher years of highscool, or for entry programs at the university for engineering. Programming robots in bright colours just does not cut the cake for 10 year olds. Let them play outside.